strike

On November 13th, this blog and the blogs listed below will be on strike for the day in solidarity with the Writers Guild of America. As fellow writers and as TV fans, we are coming together to express our strong support for the writers and their goals. We believe that when a writer’s work makes money for a company, that writer deserves to be paid. WGA Strike

Many writers depend on residuals for a stable income, and that income shouldn’t be based on an outdated formula which ignores the existence of new media and all but a tiny percentage of DVD sales. The talented writers responsible for so much of what we love about television should and must be paid fairly and equitably, and we will stand with them until they reach that goal. For everyone’s sake, and for the sake of television, we hope both sides can come to an agreement quickly.

To further that goal, we are calling on our readers to sign this petition and to contact the following television networks, voicing support for the writers and for a return to the negotiating table:

ABC
500 South Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA 91521
(818) 460-7777

FOX
10201 W. Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90035
(310) 369-1000

CBS
7800 Beverly Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 575-2345

NBC / Universal
100 Universal City Plaza
Universal City, CA 91608
(818) 777-1000

After the blackout, we intend to continue our campaign to support the WGA until the dispute has been resolved fairly. Since we will not be posting any new content on the 13th, we encourage our readers to visit United Hollywood instead for frequent updates about the strike.

In solidarity-

The CineManiac
Daemon’s TV
Ducky Does TV
Gabby Babble
Give Me My Remote
Glowy Box
I am a TV Junkie
The Media Pundit
Mikey Likes TV
Pass the Remote
The Pie Maker
Ramblings of a TV Whore
Seriously? OMG! WTF?
Silly Pipe Dreams
Tapeworthy
Televisionary
TiFaux
Tube Talk
The TV Addict
TV Series Finale
Watch with Intelligence

*As a side note* – When media content is seen on the Internet and the writers don’t get paid it is called promotional, but if media content is seen on the Internet and the studios don’t get paid it is called piracy. Is there really a difference??

Well this weekend the NHL season may end if no agreement is reached on a collective bargaining agreement. Over half of the 2004-2005 has been wiped out because of a lock-out. A lock-out is a strike in reverse. Here the management prevents workers from working by locking the gates. As a strike is used as leverage by labor, a lock-out favors management.

The issue in the dispute is clear. The team owners want what they call “cost certainty”. This is just a another way of talking about a hard salary cap. Player salaries would be limited for each team based on overall revenues.

Over the years the percentage of revenues spent on salaries has gotten out of control and the owners have failed to keep a check in their check book. Not to mention expanding the number of teams to 30 including some in non-hockey markets has put a high price on the talent needed to win (due to a lack of supply of labor).

The players are being asked to take the hit because the owners have no will power.

That would be like banning parents from a candy store because their child can’t control themselves.

I like hockey and I have missed it. As time goes on I will miss it less. That is the danger of scrubbing the season.

National Hockey League Player’s Association